About Frank Nicotero

Frank Nicotero grew up in Pittsburgh, PA as a diehard fan of the Pirates, Steelers AND standup comedy. Late at night Frank used to dim the brightness on the television in his room so his parents didn’t know he was watching Johnny Carson, David Letterman and EVENING AT THE IMPROV. He sharpened his researched comedic chops at North Allegheny where he won “Class Clown” his last three years of high school, but is still bitter about finishing second behind Jackie Joyce his freshman year.

Frank debuted at the Funny Bone in Pittsburgh in 1988 where he discovered he could make money getting laughs! His career eventually moved him to LA and an then an appearance on Lifetime TV’s game show DEBT hosted by the legendary Wink Martindale! Frank’s years of watching TV and absorbing useless knowledge helped him win over $14,000! (You can watch it online along with his other game show appearance on Fox Sports’ THE ULTIMATE FAN LEAGUE.)

Frank ended up writing and producing various game shows and got his big break when he was asked to help write and produce a pilot called STREET SMARTS. Well, talk about being in the right place at the right time, Frank ended up landing the hosting gig and the shows 760 episodes ran for over 5 years in syndication!

After the show ended Frank dove back into standup with appearances on COMICS UNLEASHED, THE ROSIE O’DONNELL SHOW, THE WAYNE BRADY show and numerous other cable shows. Frank was the narrator for two seasons of TruTv’s IT ONLY HURTS WHEN I LAUGH and in 2014 was a cast member on TruTv’s newest hit HOW TO BE A GROWN UP which are still airing in heavy rotation.

Frank proudly made his network standup debut on THE LATE, LATE SHOW with CRAIG FERGUSON in November 2014 and his debut album, THAT STREET SMARTS GUY, can be purchased on all major streaming sites.

But Frank’s favorite project ever is PONTOON PAYDAY. “It’s the perfect fit for my style of comedy and I get to show off my pop culture savvy. Plus, I have fun with people I’ve just met who had NO idea they’d be on a gameshow when they woke up that morning.” Frank and the hard working are excited that CMT viewers have hopped aboard his pontoon and are loving the most insane, hysterical game show ever to be filmed on water or land! Back to back episodes of Pontoon Payday air every Thursday at 10 PM Eastern only on CMT.

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